cleaning

“Everyone needs love. Everyone desires love.*” But, sometimes we fail in giving it for a number of reasons.

We’re not even going to attempt to tell you how to navigate love with humans, but we can offer some suggestions for you to show some love to your HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air-Conditioning, if you didn’t know) system.

The number one act of love that EVERYONE recommends is to change your furnace filter. Here’s a handy tip to help you figure out how often this should happen: if your filter is an inch thick, change it monthly. For four-inch filters two times a year will suffice.

“What the world needs now…”

If someone in your house is fanatical about cleaning, so much so that they dust before the dust settles, you shouldn’t have to change your filter more than once every two years. For the rest of us…see above.

Staying outside by your condenser, the number three way to get your heating and cooling system to love you is to clear away any plants or other obstructions that might restrict airflow, clog the coil, or make it hard to access the unit for service.

Your yard can make excellent habitat for all kinds of creatures with the right plants, but don’t let them grow next to the A/C unit.

Head back inside for tip number four.

Do you have lots and lots of furniture? Are any of the pieces covering your registers? If so, you’re restricting air flow and causing your equipment to work harder than it has to, wasting energy, and inefficiently cooling or heating your home.

“Keep away, people.”

Solution? Move the furniture off of the vents. That was easy, wasn’t it?

Tip number five is another relatively easy thing: change your humidifier pads annually. What happens if you don’t? Bacteria and mold will accumulate in the air you breathe and consequently accumulate in your lungs. That’s not a good thing at all.

It’s also advised to have your humidifier checked every two years.

“I’m breathing what?”

A cry for help

Lastly, if your energy costs have increased by 50% or more in the time since you’ve owned your heating and cooling system, it’s probably time to replace what you have. Technological advances have bettered the efficiency of many systems now. A new furnace and/or A/C will pay for save you money in the long run.

Perhaps you don’t care if your HVAC system loves you, fair enough. But for the sake of money, energy, and clean air in your home, you may want to learn to love it in the right way.

Some wonder why anyone would pay for opening a swimming pool. After all, there isn’t that much to it…or is there? Well, true, it isn’t brain surgery or even building a pergola, but it does require some time, equipment, and a smidgen of expertise.

First off, clean that cover! Your safety cover has been on top of your pool since at least late Autumn.

Loosening the anchors for the spring tensioners on the cover

Next, remove it, roll it up, and store it until it’s time to close the swimming pool.

This is how we roll!

Will you look at that. That’s what two seasons’ (1/2 of fall, 1/2 of spring, and all of winter) worth of algae and debris look like. You’re not quite ready for the first BBQ and swim party of the season just yet.

Did Lake Erie move into your backyard?

With the safety cover stored, Clearwater will then clean your pool. We vacuum the algae and debris to refresh your memory of what a clean swimming pool looks like.

You can already see the difference.

While the pool is vacuumed, we’ll also check the condition of your filter and heater. Sometimes they don’t work as well as they did last summer. Age, lack of maintenance, gremlins, something caught up to your equipment. Or perhaps not, perhaps everything is running as it should. We check to let you know whether you’re ready when the weather breaks or if you require repairs or replacement.

Testing the filter

Inspecting the heater

It wouldn’t be a swimming pool without the eye-stinging addition of chlorine. It would be a pond, and you’d have algae, mosquitoes, frogs, and maybe zebra mussels. So, while it doesn’t feel good on our eyes, chlorine is the cost of having a sparkling swimming pool.

Our Clearwater technicians will also power-wash your pool deck. This will remove some of the ground-in dirt and the collected debris making your pool deck Instagram worthy.

Power-washing means skimming as well.

Aerating the water column helps the chlorine to mix more quickly and help us see if we missed any spots before we leave.

One of our last steps is to reinstall the hand-rails (if you’ve got them) thus preventing the condition known as “Phantom Grab.” So about two hours later your pool is ready for swimming–provided it isn’t 47 degrees (F) when we open your pool.

So you can certainly open your pool on your own saving yourself money, but there’s always a cost: the least of which is time. Perhaps you can tell what’s wrong when the filtration system isn’t working when you turn it on the first time that season–or perhaps not.

It’s up to you–if you can open (and close) your pool without the need to hire it out, more power to you.

But if you lack the time, the skill, or even the desire, give Clearwater a call to make your pool look like this:

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Client Testimonials

We have a 1926 home with steam heat and radiators. I highly recommend ClearWater. [They provided] rapid assessment of the heating issue and expert repair. Thank you!

Chris, Livonia

What impressed me about ClearWater Construction was their focus on completing the project correctly the first time, the cleanliness of the work space in my home, and genuine friendliness of the entire staff. From the front office to the contractors working on my home, I had the impression that this team has a real rhythm working together.

Tim G., Detroit

The workers were very polite, courteous, and easy to talk to. They explained the process in terms I was able to understand. They were thorough and cleaned up the space when they were finished. They actually did more than they were hired to do, at no additional charge (fixed our storm door). They were professional and very family-friendly (regarding language).

Anessa M., Redford

I have used Clearwater for a number of years for the opening, closing, and maintenance of my pool as needed. I find them very thorough in their work and prompt with their service. I also like over the years having the same crew doing the work which helps to understand my needs. The other important aspect is I find them to be very prompt with their service and having calls answered live most of the time. If not, a callback is done promptly versus waiting a day or so for any follow up.